Since we are nearing the end of the week and there are already several threads to post comments to, I thought I would open another area for posting where you can inform our community of any other world issues / current events that you feel should be addressed this week.
This is my weekly post.
ReplyDeleteSo, Canadians, did you know that Canada eliminated their Capital Punishment (Death Penalty) in 1976? (1) For that reason, most of us are quite unfamiliar with the occurrence of a hanging. Most think that it’s cruel, evil, unfair.
This Thursday, in Japan, two inmates were hanged. The Justice Minister said it was because “the crimes were extremely malignant and brutal.” (2) The Justice Minister, and the government, are behind this decision, as it has been a long running tradition in Japan. They think it makes sense. They were the first to executions in 2 years.
Human Rights Activists, however, were evidently against this. Find here a link (3) which will show an article about how “evil” the Death Penalty is. There were 46 executions in the U.S. in 2008, this man argues that the Capital Punishment is repugnant and needs to be stopped.
The Death Penalty legally stands in 96 of 194 countries (4), raised in Canada, we have some bias, but which side are you on? Kill those guilty of severe crimes or imprison them?
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Canada
2.http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120928a8.html
3.http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-10-02/news/30252270_1_death-penalty-capital-punishment-executions
4.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_capital_punishment_by_country
They were the first two executions* in 2 years.
DeleteThis is my weekly post...
ReplyDeleteI would like to point out the issue of arms trafficking or gun running. This illegal, multi-billion dollar business is very widespread, the people who sell these guns make profits off of those in war torn countries. But something changed in arms running throughout Europe, Asia and Africa. See after the cold war ended and the USSR crumbled, tens of thousands of soldiers were out of work, this was the same in Eastern Europe. In various African countries there was no superpower to support military's so inevitably they collapsed. Then people started to break in to different rebel groups and the demand for small arms sky rocketed and many of those out of work soldiers became gun runners. Everything now was about small arms when before during the cold war it was all about heavy arms dealing. It's cheap, they were durable and easy to transport. The cold war ended in 1991, seven to eight million people have been killed between 1991 and 2000 alone. What was being done by the local government or the UN at this time? Nothing... because during the cold war all they tracked was the dealings in heavy weapons, not small arms and that's because small arms had never been tracked before. [1] Gun running goes so much deeper than this, warfare going on today and the weapons that fighters have purchased illegally are a direct result of the cold war. (So you all know in the 1997 the UN Panel of Governmental Experts on Small Arms report provided more refined and precise definitions of what is small arms and what is heavy arms, which has become internationally accepted. Small arms include revolvers and self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, sub-machine guns, assault rifles, and light machine guns, which are weapons designed for personal use, and light weapons [heavy arms] such as heavy machine guns, hand-held under-barrel and mounted grenade launchers, portable anti-aircraft guns, portable anti-tanks guns, recoil-less rifles, portable launchers of anti-aircraft missile systems, and mortars of calibers less than 100 mm, which are designed for use by several persons serving as a unit.) [2]
Today though arms trafficking has become a problem for north and south American countries. In America last week a US border patrol officer was killed in relation to a gun smuggling operation in Mexico. The operation was called "Fast and Furious" (That's an awesome code name) was launched in 2009 in hopes to catch trafficking kingpins but the Americans have lost count of 1400 of a supposed 2000 small arms being brought in. [3] From 2007 to 2011 the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) seized just over 68000 weapons being smuggled in to America [4] According to a 2012 brief by the Council on Foreign Relations the gun running trade has a financial value of about one billion dollars a year which is up from 170 Million to 320 Million that was reported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in 2010. [5]
We in Canada are affected by arms dealing. I would go in depth about it but that would be very lengthy and boring post, so go to [6] to check it out
1: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/sierraleone/ofcansky.html
2: http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/transcrime/articles/armstraffickingagreements.pdf
3: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/doj-report-due-out-on-gun-smuggling-operation-ariz-station-to-be-renamed-in-honor-of-agent/2012/09/17/b975085c-00fb-11e2-bbf0-e33b4ee2f0e8_story.html
4: http://www.havocscope.com/tag/arms-trafficking/ (the source here expired)
5: http://www.cfr.org/global-governance/global-regime-transnational-crime/p28656
6: http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/1253179--gun-patch-on-rare-occasions-criminals-trade-illegal-guns-to-toronto-police-for-breaks-on-bail-charges-sentences
Wow, I just learned quite a bit from that lengthy and "boring" post. It surprises me it isn't something we hear about in the news everyday.
DeleteI know, this is a BILLION (With a "B".) dollar industry. Warlords all over the world are making money off of this illegal business. Blood is being spilled and these people are reaping the rewards of war.
DeleteThis is my weekly post:
ReplyDeleteJust adding more fuel to the fire in terms of the tensions with Iran and their relations with other countries, mainly with North America and Israel. I thought all of you would like to know more about what is happening.
To begin with, just recently, Canada, United States, and Israel all boycotted Iran's speech during the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday. Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, stated that Iran's speech was "bizarre" and with United States and Israel walking out with Canada, it sent a strong message. During Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 's speech he stated that Iran`s nuclear program is for peaceful intentions but Israel and many Western allies are suspecting otherwise (1). There is a high amount of fear for not only Israel but many countries as well, as it is hard to see what Iran plans to do once the nuclear program has completed its project. I believe this is a very good move on Israel, Canada, and the United States because it just goes to show how serious these countries are in stopping Iran`s nuclear program and how they are taking a stand to stop it.
In addition, I stumbled upon a new article which talked about Israel`s speech on Iran`s nuclear program. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that by next summer the nuclear bomb Iran is building could be done. President Barack Obama has also vowed to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power but he insisted in Israel holding back military action. Netanyahu also thanked the countries that are supporting him and are making an impact on Iran`s economy, but even that hasn`t changed Iran`s intentions of stopping the program. (2)
I believe Israel and its Western allies are doing the right thing in standing up for what they believe is right. Iran obviously has no sure intentions of stopping the program but only time will tell what happens next.
Sources:
1. http://news.ca.msn.com/canada/canada-walks-out-on-iran-at-united-nations
2. http://news.ca.msn.com/world/israels-netanyahu-draws-red-line-for-iran
Totally agree,this is three main powers showing their leadership and trying to put a peaceful stop to Iran's nuclear program.I also agree that Obama made a great move by insisting that the Israeli military holds pack in till farther notice.
DeleteThis is my weekly post
ReplyDeleteFor years we have all seen the countless advertisements targeting Canadians and encouraging us to donate our organs to those in need. Even through extensive advertisements and promotion for organ donations there are still not enough organs being donated to save everyone that needs one. Last year alone 195 Canadians died while waiting for a transplant, and there are currently over 4000 Canadians waiting for 1. (1) If we really want to help out these Canadians then a financial incentive for donating is long overdue. The process of organ donation carries many risks that start with death during anesthesia, to complications from the procedure, extended healing times, reduced quality of life, and foregone wages. All these factors should make the government seriously consider reimbursing organ donors. In Canada the wait for organs is so long that some patients are travelling to China to get organs transplanted from executed "criminals" (for China places very little on the value of human life and has 68 offences that capital punishment can be imposed on including tax fraud, drug trafficking, and embezzlement). (2) This shows that Canadians are clearly not being serviced adequately by our current organ donor system and things need to change. If organ donors had more incentive to donate we could potentially eliminate our support of Chinese executions. Canada currently has a very unreliable system for organ transplants that does not easily facilitate transplants and allows many to die whilst awaiting them. Like Michael Enwright says: Canada has a "disorganized, dysfunctional,(organ donor) system with little accountability". Aside from saving countless lives, an effective donation program would save tons of money. Dialysis costs about $60,000 per patient per year. A kidney transplant costs about $23,000 plus $6,000 a year for anti-rejection drugs.”(3) This clearly illustrates the fact that organ donation saves the government money in the short and long-term and could potentially better the life of many Canadians if organ donation was better compensated. While I do personally encourage and support organ donation, if there were benefits to organ donation (other than the altruistic ones) I know there would be many more Canadians interested in helping out.
(1) http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/cash-kidneys-study-says-canadians-open-buying-selling-164958463.html
(2) http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=84b0ad00-c2ac-4acc-b06e-453ebe6ee824
(3) http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/essays/2012/02/19/the-case-for-selling-organs/